1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement of a piezoelectric gas-lighter provided with a high-tension generator having a piezoelectric element, in which gas-lighter the high-tension generator is reciprocally moved up and down while its piezoelectric element is hit to generate a high voltage which is discharged from a sparking nozzle in a sparking manner so that a fuel gas ejacted from a gas nozzle is ignited by such sparking action.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a piezoelectric gas-lighter is provided with a high-tension generator incorporated therein. The high-tension generator is constructed as follows: namely, in such high-tension generator, a head pin 2 and a piezoelectric element 3 are disposed in an inside of a unit case 1 in an insertion manner and fixed therein by a seat metal 4 which is press-fitted in a terminal portion of the unit case 1. Thus constructed unit case 1 is fixed in an outer case 5 in an insertion manner, while an impacting hammer 8 is received inside an inner case 6 through an action spring 7, which inner case 6 is inserted into a bore of the outer case 5 through a return spring 9, movably up and down.
In the above construction of the conventional piezoelectric gas-lighter, the impacting hammer 8 is provided with a guide pin 8a projecting from its side wall. The guide pin 8a is disposed in an insertion manner in both of a substantially diamond-shaped window 6a formed in a side wall of the inner case 6 and a substantially L-shaped window 5a formed in the outer case 5. In the igniting operation of the piezoelectric gas-lighter, such guide pin 8a of the impacting hammer 8 is depressed by a user's finger against a resililent force of the return spring 9 through the outer case 5. When the thus depressed guide pin 8a of the impacting hammer 8 reaches a substantially middle position of the inner case 6, such guide pin 8a of the impacting hammer 8 is slightly urged laterally by a lower oblique edge 6b of the substantially diamond-shaped window 6a, which oblique edge 6a is directed to a lower edge of the same window 6a, so that such guide pin 8a of the impacting hammer 8 is disengaged from an engaging portion 5b of the substantially L-shaped window 5a to be suddenly lifted by the action spring 7 along a longitudinal edge portion of the latter window 5a, so that the head pin 2 disposed over the impacting hammer 8 is hit by the impacting hammer 8 to give an impact to the piezoelectric element 3.
Further, in such high-tension generator, though it is not especially shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sparking nozzle projecting laterally from the unit case 1 and a valve lever for opening/closing a gas valve by moving the ejection nozzle of the fuel gas up and down are electrically connected to a plus and a minus poles of the piezoelectric element 3, respectively, so that a sparking action is conducted between the sparking nozzle and the gas nozzle when the valve lever lifts the gas nozzle to open a gas conduit.
Hitherto, in such type of the piezoelectric gas-lighter, as shown in FIG. 3, the sparking nozzle 11 is directly fixed to a main body of the high-tension generator 10 so that the sparking nozzle 11 is slided downward together with the main body of the high-tension generator 10 when such generator 10 is reciprocally moved, whereby, when the impact is given to the piezoelectric element of the high-tension generator 10, the sparking nozzle is moved to a position in the vicinity of the gas nozzle 12 to conduct the sparking action through which the ejected gas from the gas nozzle 12 is ignited.
In another conventional type of the piezoelectric gas-lighter, as shown in FIG. 4, a contacting element 13a is provided in the high-tension generator 10 in projecting manner, while another contacting element 13b to be electrically connected to the above contacting element 13a of the high-tension generator 10 and the sparking nozzle 11 are fixed to an insulated pole-holder portion 14 in the vicinity of the gas nozzle 12. In action, when the contacting element 13a of the high-tension generator 10 is brought into an electrical contact with the another contacting element 13b of the sparking nozzle 11, a sparking action is conducted between the sparking nozzle 11 and the gas nozzle 12 so that the ejected gas from the gas nozzle 12 is ignited through such sparking action.
Of these conventional piezoelectric gas-lighters, the former gas-lighter is disadvantageous in that: a time when the impact is given to the piezoelectric element according to the reciprocal movement of the high-tension generator 10 is not fixed so that a distance between the sparking nozzle 11 and the gas nozzle 12 in which distance the sparking action is conducted varies to impair a steady sparking action therebetween. On the other hand, the latter gas-lighter is disadvantageous in that: an additional sparking gap exists between the contacting element 13a of the high-tension generator 10 and the another contacting element 13b of the sparking nozzle 11 so that the electrical energy to be discharged in sparking manner is decreased by the existence of such additional sparking gap. Consequently, in any of the conventional piezoelectric gaslighters, it is not possible to obtain a steady igniting condition. Particularly, in the latter gas-lighter, in addition to the sparking nozzle 11 and the high-tension generator 10, it is necessary to provide additionally the contacting elements 13a, 13b which increase the number of components of the gas-lighter and make their assembling operation cumbersome so that the production cost of the gas-lighers are increased. These are inherent in the conventional piezoelectric gas-lighters.
Further, hitherto, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in the conventional piezoelectric gas-lighter, the following mechanism is employed as an electrical mechanism for conducting an electrical discharge in sparking manner. The electrical mechanism will be described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 3. In the electrical mechanism, the piezoelectric element incorporated in the high-tension generator is connected in its one end to an axle end of the sparking nozzle 11 which is disposed in other case in an insertion manner, while, under such sparking nozzle 11, an electrical pole-plate 15 connected to the other end of the piezoelectric element is projected from the side wall of the outer case, through which pole-plate 15 the valve lever 16 of the gas nozzle 12 is received, which valve lever 16 is depressed through a step portion 18 of the outer case which is depressed according to the pushing operation of the high-tension generator 10, so that the valve lever 16 is rotatably inclined to make it possible to connect its lower end with a connecting plate 17 which projects from the outer case, which valve lever 16 also lifts the gas nozzle 12 to open the gas conduit. At this time, the pole-plate 15 contacts with the connecting plate 17 to be electrically connected to the valve lever 16, whereby a front end of the sparking nozzle 11 forms a plus pole, while a front end of the gas nozzle 12 forms a minus pole. The above is a conventional construction of such electrical mechanism.
However, the above conventional electrical mechanism is disadvantageous in that the earth pole side components are too many in their number to cause a considerably complex construction thereof and to increase its production cost. In addition to the above disadvantages, the conventional electrical mechanism is disadvantageous also in the following points: namely, since metal plates such as the pole-plate 15 and the connecting plate 17 are partially embedded in the outer case which is not electrically conductive, there is a fear that the pole-plate 15 and the connecting plate 17 lose their steady mounting conditions to cause their damages and/or dropping after several uses.